Automated multi-silo aggregate management

ABSTRACT

Methods of managing aggregate inventory. The methods include utilizing a dynamic protocol for an oilfield operation with aggregate from chambers of a multi-silo system wherein each chamber accommodates a single aggregate type throughout operations. However, the chambers also have a dynamic classification as either active, idle or reserved depending on the stage of operations. Once more, even though each silo may accommodate multiple chambers, unique techniques may be utilized to obtain real-time inventory information for each chamber via weight measurement of entire silos.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION(S)

This Patent Document claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §119(e) to U.S.Provisional Application Ser. Nos. 62/090,789, entitled AutomaticallyLoading Dry Bulk Material Into a Bank of Silos or Compartments andControl Systems Therefor, filed on Dec. 11, 2014, and 62/093,272,entitled Method of Calculating Load Weights, filed on Dec. 17, 2014,each of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND

Exploring, drilling and completing hydrocarbon and other wells aregenerally complicated, time consuming and ultimately very expensiveendeavors. As a result, over the years, well architecture has becomemore sophisticated where appropriate in order to help enhance access tounderground hydrocarbon reserves. For example, as opposed to wells oflimited depth, it is not uncommon to find hydrocarbon wells exceeding30,000 feet in depth. Furthermore, today's hydrocarbon wells ofteninclude deviated or horizontal sections aimed at targeting particularunderground reserves. Indeed, at targeted formation locations, it isquite common for a host of lateral legs and fractures to stem from themain wellbore of the well toward a hydrocarbon reservoir in theformation.

The above described fractures may be formed by a fracturing operation,often referred to as a stimulation operation. The stimulation orfracturing operation, involves pumping of a fracturing fluid at highpressure into the well in order to form the fractures and stimulateproduction of the hydrocarbons. The fractures may then serve as channelsthrough the formation through which hydrocarbons may reach the wellbore.The indicated fracturing fluid generally includes a solid particulate oraggregate referred to as proppant, often sand. The proppant may act toenhance the formation of fractures during the fracturing operation andmay also remain primarily within fractures upon their formation. Infact, the fractures may remain open in part due to their propping openby the proppant.

The above described proppant for the fracturing operation may besupplied from a proppant delivery unit located at the oilfield near thewell. This unit is generally very large due to the amount of proppantthat may be required for any given fracturing operation. For example,where the proppant is a conventional dry sand, a fully loaded unit mayexceed half a million pounds in weight. Once more, as wells becomedeeper and of ever increasing complex architecture, efforts to provideeven larger ready supplies of proppant at the oilfield are increasinglycommon. That is, more downhole fracturing locations may be involved,thus requiring a greater available supply of proppant.

From an equipment standpoint, greater on-site or near-site supplies ofproppant may include the use of mobile silos or even larger stationarysilos that are used to gravity feed a blender therebelow. Thus, aproppant slurry may be formed and utilized in short order to supportvarious fracturing operations. As a practical manner, however, thismeans that potentially several million pounds of proppant may requiretransport and storage at a given location.

A variety of challenges are presented where management of such massiveamounts of proppant or any aggregate is sought. For example, as a silois filled or emptied for sake of ongoing operations, it is quitedifficult to measure with precision the exact amount of proppant beingadded or consumed. That is, as a given operation calls for the additionor consumption of a particular type of proppant from a silo, it islikely to be in the neighborhood of tens of thousands of pounds. Thismay involve an operator manually feeding a line to a silo for a periodand estimating an amount added (or consumed). That is, at present, thereis no practical manner to precisely monitor the increasing or decreasingvolume of proppant in a given silo in an automated manner duringoperations.

Furthermore, if proppant becomes unexpectedly depleted leaving the mixerempty, the entire operation may require shutting down. As a result,operations often proceed with substantially more proppant available thanis actually required for the operation. That is, as opposed to shuttingdown operations at a substantial cost of time and frustration for thewell developer, expenses are more commonly shifted to an inefficientoperational aspect of delivering and storing much more proppant than isactually required.

Additionally, to ensure that there is a surplus of proppant, operatorsrely on manual record keeping and visual inspection of proppant levelswithin a silo. Such visual inspections also mean that an operator isbeing more regularly exposed to a dust and particulate that is swirlingabout or being kicked up during this period of loading or consumption.

Manual tracking and monitoring of the loading and consumption processalso presents other challenges such as avoiding proppant contamination,when one proppant is loaded into the wrong silo, or even the possibilityof overloading a silo. Ultimately, operators are currently left withproppant management systems that may be generally inaccurate and mayresult in an inefficient overabundance of proppant on site due to a lackof practical automation for such large scale system.

SUMMARY

A method of automated aggregate management at an oilfield via a mobilemulti-silo system with each silo having multiple chambers. The methodincludes establishing a dynamic protocol for an operation at theoilfield that utilizes at least one aggregate. At the outset ofoperations each chamber may be assigned a static designation toaccommodate a given aggregate type throughout the operation. Operationsmay be run with at least one aggregate from the system filled accordingto the static designation and the dynamic protocol. Additionally, eachchamber of the system may be classified as one of idle and available forloading, active for loading or unloading, and reserved to prohibitloading or unloading wherein the particular classification is dependentupon the dynamic protocol during the running of the operation. Further,chambers may be refilled in accordance with the protocol in light of thedynamic classification so as to provide for running of the operation ina substantially continuous manner.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective overview depiction of an oilfield utilizing anembodiment of an automated multi-silo aggregate management system.

FIG. 2A is a front view of an embodiment of a user interface screen forsetting up automated aggregate management of the system of FIG. 1.

FIG. 2B is a front view of another embodiment of a user interface screenfor selecting a predetermined automated aggregate management setup forthe system of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3A is a front view of an embodiment of a user interface screen formonitoring aggregate inventory use during operations of the system ofFIG. 1.

FIG. 3B is a front view of an embodiment of a user interface screen toevaluate reloading options of aggregate inventory during operations ofthe system of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4A is a front view of an embodiment of a user interface screen foroperator directed reloading of aggregate inventory during operations ofthe system of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4B is a front view of an embodiment of a user interface screen foroperator directed emptying of aggregate inventory during operations ofthe system of FIG. 1.

FIG. 5 is a schematic view of a multi-silo arrangement of the system ofFIG. 1 with load cells to provide real-time aggregate inventoryinformation for individual compartments of each silo of the system.

FIG. 6 is a flow-chart summarizing embodiments of employing automatedmulti-silo aggregate management techniques at an oilfield.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In the following description, numerous details are set forth to providean understanding of the present disclosure. However, it will beunderstood by those skilled in the art that the embodiments describedmay be practiced without these particular details. Further, numerousvariations or modifications may be employed which remain contemplated bythe embodiments as specifically described.

Embodiments are described with reference to certain embodiments ofoilfield operations. Specifically, stimulation operations involvingfracturing with aggregate in the form of proppant is described. However,other types of more automated aggregate management at an oilfield maybenefit from management techniques detailed herein. For example,cementing and other applications that utilize a potentially largequantity of blended aggregates and other constituents may benefit fromsuch management techniques. Indeed, so long as a management technique isemployed that involves a dynamic protocol drawing from staticdesignations of silo chambers holding a material such as aggregate thatis carried out in light of dynamic chamber classifications of idle,active and reserved, appreciable benefit may be realized.

Referring now to FIG. 1, a perspective overview depiction of an oilfield100 is shown where an embodiment of an automated multi-silo aggregatemanagement system 105 is located. The system 105 includes a mobilemulti-silo assembly 125 with four separate silos 175, 176, 177, 178supported by an underlying frame 120. As described further below, eachsilo 175-178 includes multiple chambers. For example, the silo 175includes chambers 241 and 242 as shown in FIG. 2A and elsewhere.Furthermore, each such chamber is capable of holding tens of thousandsof pounds of aggregate. Specifically, in the embodiments detailedfurther below, different types of proppant may be stored on a chamber bychamber basis in this fashion.

In an embodiment where the aggregate is proppant for stimulationoperations as alluded to above, the proppant may be mixed along withother constituents at a mobile mixer 140 below the assembly 125according to a predetermined protocol. The slurry that is formed fromthe mixture may then be delivered to a well 180 as part of a wellboreoperation such as a fracturing application. For example, in theembodiment shown, the well 180 includes an upper casing 185 andtraverses several thousand feet below a wellhead 160, across variousformation layers 190 eventually reaching a perforated production region197. Thus, a high pressure fracturing application may take placedirected at delivering proppant to the region 197 so as to encourageopening and supporting hydrocarbon flow therefrom. A host of additionalsurface equipment, not apparent in FIG. 1, such as positive displacementpumps, a manifold, piping and other tools may be positioned at theoilfield surface 100 to support the application. The application itselfmay be directed by an operator at a control unit 110 with appropriateprocessing capacity. Similarly, a management unit 101 with sufficientprocessing capacity may be employed by another operator to direct theloading, monitoring and unloading of individual chambers of the silos175-178 as needed in support of the application. However, in otherembodiments, the features of the management unit 101 may be found at themore remote control unit 101. Regardless, in an effort to maintain asubstantially continuous supply of slurry for the fracturingapplication, an operator may employ a user interface and controlsthrough the management unit 101 to direct ongoing filling aggregate intothe silos 175-178 and consumption therefrom.

As shown in FIG. 1, a conveyor 117 and bucket elevator 175 may beutilized to obtain aggregate from proppant delivery trucks 150, 155 or“sand haulers” for routing to augers 130, 135 for filling of the silos175-178. However, in other embodiments, pneumatic equipment for fillingof the silos 175-178 may be utilized. Regardless, in the embodimentshown, chutes 137 from the augers 130, 135 may determine which specificchamber 241-248 a particular aggregate or proppant type is delivered to(e.g. see FIG. 2A). Further, as suggested above, this type of loading aswell as aggregate consumption from the silos 175-178 may be directed byan operator at a management unit 101 to support substantiallyuninterrupted fracturing. That is, as detailed below, a substantiallycontinuous supply of aggregate, and therefore slurry, may be madeavailable in an efficient, just-in-time, manner to support theapplication or operation.

As shown in FIG. 1, the management unit 101 is adjacent the siloassembly 125. Thus, an operator having direct access and visibility ofthe aggregate supply also has more direct control over filling andconsumption of aggregate through the unit 101. In addition to directingthe filling and consumption of aggregate, the management unit 101 mayalso record a substantial amount of historical data in terms of ongoingoperations. Indeed, days or months' worth of data, including from priorapplications at the well 180 may be of value and stored at the unit 101.That is, as any given load of aggregate is brought to the assembly 125or consumed, its delivery and/or consumption may be tracked at the unit101.

At the outset, tracking may initially include scanning or manuallyentering data regarding the aggregate to be supplied to the assembly125. However, as detailed below, the method of ensuring the amount ofthe load and subsequent consumption may be monitored with a moresophisticated level of data acquisition and tracking. Further, dependingon entry of the new load information, the unit 101 may help todetermine, based on a protocol or pre-set rules at a processor thereof,what particular chamber of what particular silo 175-178, theaggregate/proppant should be delivered to in the first place.

Referring now to FIG. 2A, with added reference to FIG. 1, a front viewof an embodiment of a user interface screen is shown with a display 200.The screen may be utilized by an operator at a remote location such asat the control unit 110 or, if desired closer to the silo assembly 125,at the management unit 101 where the operator has more direct accessthereto. Regardless, the screen includes the display 200 for initiallysetting up automated aggregate management of the system 105 of FIG. 1.For example, each of the eight different chambers 241-248 may beassigned a pre-determined type of proppant 225 to be stored therein tothe exclusion of all others. Of course, depending on the protocol of theapplication, and overall proppant needs, more than one chamber 241-248may be assigned the same proppant type 225. That said, once assigned agiven proppant type 225, a chamber 241-248 will be excluded fromaccommodating other types throughout operations. In addition topreventing contamination, this also serves as a valuable inventory toolas proppant is loaded, stored and consumed over the course ofoperations.

Continuing with reference to FIG. 2A, the chambers 241-248 are shownoriented relative one another in groups representing different silos175-178. That is, as shown in FIG. 1 there are four different silos175-178, each accommodating two different chambers 241-248 so as toprovide a total of eight different possible proppant assignments.Additionally, as indicated above, these unchanging or “static”assignments are input by a user depending on the protocol for theapplication to be run. However, with particular reference to FIG. 2B, inanother embodiment, a predetermined automated aggregate management setupmay be employed. That is, rather than an operator manually making thenoted assignments at the screen, a display 201 may be presented thatallows an operator to select one of a variety of different files 275with pre-stored chamber assignment information. Thus, human error may beminimized by ensuring that so long as the proper file with properpre-stored information is selected for the application, the appropriateproppant assignments will be provided for management on a chamber bychamber basis.

In addition to chamber assignments for aggregate/proppant, the initialsetup for ongoing operations may also account for chamber weights. Ofcourse, in the embodiments shown, multiple chambers 241-248 areincorporated into single silos 175-178. So, for example, the weight ofchambers 241 and 242 are the combined weight of the corresponding silo175. Therefore, with added reference to FIGS. 4B and 5, available weightinformation from load cells 510, 520, 530, 540 or other suitable weightdetermining mechanism, pertaining to the weight of the empty silo 175may be substantially zeroed out or discounted from subsequently detectedweight as the chambers 241 and/or 242 are filled or emptied. Further, arequirement that only one chamber 241 or 242 of the silo 175 be “active”for filling or emptying at any given point in time, allows for ongoingweight detections from the load cells 510-540 to be a reliable indicatorof the actual inventory of proppant in each chamber 241, 242.

With brief added reference to FIG. 4A, once the proppant assignments areentered, the rules of the protocol will call for the actual loading ofmaterials into the chambers 241-248. As a practical matter, with addedreference to FIG. 1, this will result in the operator directingdifferent specifically called for trucks 150, 155 to appropriatelocations at the assembly 125 for unloading. This may take place overand over until the chambers 241-248 are filled according to the rules ofthe protocol for the application to be run during oilfield operations.The initial loading and set up as described may help avoidcontamination, enhance inventory tracking, avoid overflow and evenenhance safety by providing operators with step by step safetyinstructions during loading. Additionally, the display 200, 201 mayprovide diagnostics and troubleshooting as needed. Further, as detailedbelow, the protocol itself may be forward “thinking” and allow for thereserving of particular chambers 241-248 based on anticipated futureoperational needs and not just the current needs of the near-termapplication.

Referring now to FIG. 3A, once the assembly 125 of FIG. 1 is set up, anapplication may proceed as an operator witnesses a monitoring display301. For example, the display 301 as shown in FIG. 3A allows an operatorto view consumption and depletion of proppant on a chamber 241-248 bychamber 241-248 basis. That it, each graphic representation of eachchamber 241-248 notes an exclusive proppant type 225 for that chamber241-248 as well as an approximate proppant level therein. As notedabove, these levels are available due to the real-time weightinformation that is available as well as level sensors where provided.With reference to such a display 301, the operator may have informationreadily available as to all proppant in terms of amounts received,consumed, unused, etc. This information may be utilized in determiningongoing needs in light of the overall application or various stagesthereof as well as the rate of consumption taking place in real-time,even from a chamber by chamber standpoint. In the embodiment of FIG. 3A,the display 301 also presents dynamic real-time numeric inventoryinformation 300 to the operator. Thus again, an operator monitoring thedisplay 301 is likely to have an idea of upcoming supply needs of thesystem 125 of FIG. 1.

With reference now to FIG. 3B, a front view of an embodiment of a userinterface screen is shown where the display 310 serves as an aid to theoperator in evaluating chamber reloading options. That is, in light ofdepleting inventories, new proppant may be required. However, reloadingthereof may depend on initial chamber assignments as to proppant type aswell as the stored protocol being carried out by a processor of thecontrol 110 and/or management 101 unit of the system 105 of FIG. 1.

Continuing with reference to FIG. 3B, the display presents the chambers241-248 in a manner highlighting available capacity 301 therein. Asdetailed above, this may be determined by the ongoing monitoring ofweight information provided to the processor of the control 110 ormanagement 101 unit. Thus, depending on upcoming aggregate/proppantneeds, the operator may select one of the chambers 243, 245, 247 withavailable capacity for re-loading.

For example, with added reference to FIG. 1, consider a scenario wherechamber 247 is assigned a proppant type that is not of a near term needin operations but chambers 243 and 244 are both assigned for holding thesame type of proppant that is of near term need. The operator may thenconsult the protocol to determine whether chamber 243 with an availablecapacity of 130,000 lbs. or chamber 245, with an available capacity of75,000 lbs. is most appropriate for selecting. Certainly, if the nearterm need for the proppant type at issue is near or above 75,000 lbs.the operator would select chamber 243 for reloading.

Continuing with the above-proposed example and added reference to FIG.1, it is of course, possible that the near term need of the givenproppant type might exceed 130,000 lbs., in which case, both chambers243, 245 would be selected for sequential re-filling. In this situation,one chamber 243 of a silo 176 would be activated for filling while theother 244 remained inactive. By the same token, at this point in timeneeds for this proppant type would be met by the noted chamber 245 ofanother silo 177. Once the initial chamber 243 is filled, the chamber243 may now move to an active state for consumption while the otherchamber 245 is temporarily moved to an inactive state and a chute 137 ordiverter repositioned thereover. This chamber 245 may then be moved toan active state for filling. In this way, the mobile mixer 140 below thesystem 125 is not noticeably interrupted nor the operations in general.Instead, applications may proceed uninterrupted in a substantiallycontinuous fashion.

Referring now to FIG. 4A, a front view of an embodiment of a userinterface screen is shown with a display 400 that may be presented to anoperator at the refilling site near the physical system 125 of FIG. 1.So, for example, in one embodiment, the display 301 of FIG. 3B may bepresented to an operator at either unit 110, 101 of FIG. 1. However, thedisplay 400 of FIG. 4A may be presented to an operator at the managementunit 101 in the vicinity of the actual refilling. Thus, the displaypresents the operator with step by step direction and aid in terms ofwhere to position trucks 150, 155, safety measures, checks and otherpractical issues which may emerge over the course of actualunloading/filling of chambers (e.g. 243).

The display 400 of FIG. 4A may present a variety of practical alerts andguides to the operator apart from the general protocol. For example,warning of overfill conditions or alternatively, unanticipated depletionmay occur based on level sensor indicators. Additionally, the display400 may have built in temporary delays in terms of sequencing betweenone chamber being filled or emptied and another. This way, operationsmay proceed with assurance of proper weight and inventory tracking so asto avoid overloading or premature depletion of a chamber. This display400 may also provide some guidance and flexibility in terms of loadingoptions. For example, the display 400 may guide the operator throughoptions of elevator versus pneumatic filling, the use of a skirtedreceiving belt for dust reduction, inclined versus horizontaltransloading, and a variety of other unloading options. Once more, onetype of rig-up guidance may be provided in light of other guidance. Thismay include a recognition, for example, that the elevator 175 isunavailable for loading a chamber because it is already in use foranother chamber and thus, guide the operator to proceed with anotherunloading at another chamber (of another silo) via pneumatic means.

Referring now to FIG. 4B, another display screen 401 is presented to anoperator which allows direct control over emptying of theaggregate/proppant during operations. That is, again in contrast to themonitoring display 301 of FIG. 3A, this display screen 401 may be ofparticular benefit to an operator right at the site of the system 125site where the potential for practical intervention and manualinvolvement may be more likely. Again, the display 401 notes theparticular proppant types 225 assigned to each chamber 241-248. Indeed,in the specific example depicted, the same proppant type, “2040 Sand” isallocated to different chambers 242, 244, 245. However, it is evidentthat one of these chambers 244 is of a far lower level than the others242, 245 and yet, slated for unloading therefrom according to theprotocol being carried out. Thus, as is also evident, the displaypresents a confirmation warning 450 to the operator to allow for theopportunity to abort 475 the unloading from that particular chamber 244.If this abort intervention is selected by the operator, subsequentprotocol options may be presented to allow for selecting of unloadingfrom another chamber 242, 245. Of course, the operator may also selectunload 480 where depletion of the chamber 245 is not of significantconcern.

As alluded to above, the determination of whether to unload 480 may notonly be a matter of whether or not sufficient proppant is available inthe chamber 243. That is, protocols may call for one or more chambers toremain “reserved” for later activation, whether for filling orunloading, depending on the anticipated needs of ongoing operations.Thus, while an operator may not be concerned about immediate depletionof the chamber 243, there may be a need to hold a sufficient amount ofproppant from this chamber in reserve based on the protocol. Forexample, the controlling processor of a unit 101, 110 may predeterminethat at a later time alternate proppant sources may be unavailable (e.g.242, 245) due to adjacent chambers 243, 246 being activated at suchtime. In this scenario, the operator may be required to abort 475 anddraw from alternate sources 242, 245 so as to hold the noted chamber 245in reserve for the indicated later time. In this sense, the protocol ofthis embodiment is “forward looking”, thereby enhancing resourceallocation and the ability for substantially continuous operations. Bythe same token, a variety of detected safety and other issues mayrequire aborting of unloading from any or all chambers. Thus, theability of the operator to abort 475 through the display 401 may bebeneficial for a variety of additional reasons.

Referring now to FIG. 5, is a schematic top view of a multi-siloarrangement of the system 125 of FIG. 1 is shown. In this view, thesilos 175-178 and chambers 241-248 are apparent over the frame 120 atthe left depiction of the system 125. However, at the right depiction ofthe system 125, spaces 500, 575 between the individual silos 175-178 areapparent. Thus, with particular reference to the silo 175 it is alsoapparent that a particular set of load cells 510-540 is shared for theentire silo 175. That is, the load cells 510-540 are not made availableon a chamber by chamber basis. This means that two chambers 241, 242share the same set of load cells for sake of estimating inventorytherein at any given point in time.

In spite of this setup, as detailed hereinabove, only one chamber 241 or242 may be active for loading or unloading at any given point in time.Thus, the processor acquiring information from the cells 510-540 maystill allocate and track inventory on a chamber by chamber basis (i.e.even in absence of chamber by chamber load cells or other dedicatedweight measurement tools). Specifically, the total weight of a givensilo 175 is the empty weight known at the initial set up of operationsplus the aggregate loaded thereinto. Therefore, as the weight changesdue to loading or unloading, aggregate/proppant inventory may be trackedthrough the load cells 510-540 because only one chamber 241 or 242 maybe affected at any given point in time. Indeed, this method of inventorytracking may be utilized where more than two chambers 241, 242 areallocated to a given silo 175. That is, so long as only one chamber isactive, this technique for tracking inventory may be utilized.

Referring now to FIG. 6, a flow-chart is shown summarizing embodimentsof employing automated multi-silo aggregate management techniques at anoilfield. As detailed above, a dynamic protocol for a given applicationsuch as stimulation or fracturing operations may be set up or selectedand stored at a processor of a control or management unit as indicatedat 615. The protocol may rely upon a dedicated assignment of a varietyof chambers to accommodate a particular aggregate or proppant type tothe exclusion of all others (see 635). Further, multiple chambers mayshare the same silo. Nevertheless, operations may proceed as noted at655 with aggregate being consumed while the inventory thereof isreliably monitored due to a unique manner of accounting for silo weightin light of silo chamber classifications. Namely, only one chamber of agiven silo may be active at any given point in time.

As alluded to above, the operations may proceed with each chamber beingdynamically classified in terms of a state of active for filling orconsuming, idle, or reserved for later use as indicated at 675.Depending on the protocol being carried out and stages thereof, achamber's state may dynamically change, for example from active in termsof consuming to idle until reactivated for filling. Indeed, as indicatedat 695, chambers may be refilled based on consumption and monitoredaggregate level depending on the stages of the protocol remaining forthe operation.

Embodiments described above allow for efficient inventory tracking ofproppant or other aggregate at an oilfield during ongoing operations inan automated fashion. Indeed, techniques detailed herein largelyeliminate manual accounting techniques for monitoring inventory ofaggregate. Once more, the techniques allow for the substantiallycontinuous use of proppant during operations without necessarilyrequiring an overabundance of proppant on site. Ultimately, a safer andmore reliably efficient mode of aggregate management is provided throughthe automated operator friendly techniques detailed herein.

The preceding description has been presented with reference to presentlypreferred embodiments. Persons skilled in the art and technology towhich these embodiments pertain will appreciate that alterations andchanges in the described structures and methods of operation may bepracticed without meaningfully departing from the principle, and scopeof these embodiments. Furthermore, the foregoing description should notbe read as pertaining only to the precise structures described and shownin the accompanying drawings, but rather should be read as consistentwith and as support for the following claims, which are to have theirfullest and fairest scope.

We claim:
 1. A method of managing aggregate at an oilfield with a mobilemulti-silo system, each silo of the system having multiple chamberstherein, the method comprising: establishing a dynamic protocol for anoperation at the oilfield utilizing at least one aggregate; assigningeach chamber a static designation for accommodating a given aggregatetype throughout the operation at the outset of the operation; runningthe operation at the oilfield with at least one aggregate from thesystem filled according to the static designation and the dynamicprotocol; classifying each chamber with a classification, theclassification dependent upon the dynamic protocol while running theoperation; and refilling a chamber in accordance with the protocol inlight of the dynamic classification to enable running of the operationsubstantially continuously.
 2. The method of claim 1 wherein classifyingcomprises classifying each chamber as one of idle and available forloading, idle and available for filling, active and loading, active andunloading and reserved to prohibit loading and unloading.
 3. The methodof claim 1 wherein the assigning of the static designation to eachchamber comprises operator manual entry thereof at an interface screenof a unit with a processor having the protocol stored thereon.
 4. Themethod of claim 1 wherein the assigning of the static designation toeach chamber comprises operator selection of a file at an interfacescreen of a unit with a processor having the protocol and file storedthereon.
 5. The method of claim 1 wherein the assigning of the staticdesignations comprises assigning multiple chambers of the system thesame aggregate type.
 6. The method of claim 1 further comprising:filling each chamber with an aggregate type; and storing informationregarding each filled chamber and aggregate type at a processor for therunning of the operation.
 7. The method of claim 6 wherein classifying asingle chamber of a silo as active prohibits classification of any otherchamber of the silo as active.
 8. The method of claim 7 furthercomprising determining an amount of aggregate in each chamber based onweight information from the corresponding silo thereof.
 9. The method ofclaim 2 wherein classifying a chamber as reserved comprises: confirmingthat the chamber is available for activating at a later point in time;and confirming that another chamber of the same designated aggregatetype is both available for activating at a present time and unavailablefor activating at the later point in time.
 10. The method of claim 1wherein the running of the operation at the oilfield comprises: mixingthe aggregate to for a slurry for the operation; and performing astimulation application in a well at the oilfield with the slurry. 11.The method of claim 10 wherein the aggregate is proppant and thestimulation application includes fracturing downhole in the well.
 12. Amethod of inventory management for aggregate held in a multi-silosystem, each silo of the system having multiple chambers therein, themethod comprising: calculating a weight of each silo in an empty state;classifying one chamber of each silo as active for filling withaggregate; determining the inventory of aggregate in each filled chamberbased on an increased weight of each silo less the calculated weight ofeach silo in the empty state.
 13. The method of claim 12 furthercomprising: classifying another chamber of each silo as active forfilling with aggregate, wherein classifying of either chamber of a siloas active prohibits classifying of any other chamber of the silo asactive; determining the inventory of aggregate in each of the otherchambers of each silo; running an operation at the oilfield withaggregate from a chamber of the system classified as active forunloading; and determining the dynamic inventory of aggregate in theunloading chamber.
 14. The method of claim 12 wherein the weight of eachsilo is obtained by a weight obtaining mechanism coupled to a processorfor the running of the operation, the processor to determine the dynamicinventory.
 15. An automated multi-silo aggregate management systemcomprising: a multi-silo assembly wherein each silo of the assembly isequipped with multiple aggregate chambers, each chamber designated toaccommodate a single aggregate type to the exclusion of any other types;a loading mechanism for filling of each chamber with aggregate based ona classification of active for loading, the classification of a singlechamber of a silo as active for loading prohibiting classification ofany other chamber of the silo as active for loading or unloading; and aprocessor equipped unit with a user interface for directing running ofan operation at the oilfield with aggregate unloaded from at least onechamber of the assembly classified as active for unloading, theclassification of a single chamber of a silo as active for unloadingprohibiting classification of any other chamber of the silo as activefor unloading or loading.
 16. The system of claim 15 wherein the loadingmechanism is one of a bucket elevator and pneumatic equipment.
 17. Thesystem of claim 15 further comprising a mixer positioned below theassembly for obtaining the aggregate unloaded from the chamber.
 18. Thesystem of claim 15 wherein the processor equipped unit is a unitpositioned adjacent the assembly for an operator having access thereto.19. The system of claim 15 further comprising a weight determiningmechanism coupled to each silo and the processor equipped unit todynamically track inventory of aggregate in each chamber.
 20. The systemof claim 19 wherein the weight determining mechanism comprises at leastone load cell.